Trust Christ. Serve God. Fall Asleep.
For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption
Acts 13:35
When David prophesied of the resurrection of Christ, he said, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption” (Psa 16:10). Jesus, the holy One who trampled death, was not abandoned in the grave and He did not see corruption. He rose victoriously! David? Well, he has not been abandoned, but he most certainly saw corruption. This is just a fact: “he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day” (Acts 2:29). David lived his life and then died. And I love how Paul speaks about the life that David lived. He was not the Christ, but David made his life count. What did he do? He trusted Christ. He served God. And then He fell asleep. Sounds like something to emulate.
Trust Christ
We can get so tied up in doing so many things. We can let the world, or finances, or jobs define us. But really, when all things shake out and I stand before God the judge, the only thing that will matter in that moment is if I trusted Christ. Have you put your faith in Him? Are you trusting like David in the righteousness that comes by faith (Rom 4:8)? Is your life spent pointing to Christ? David prayed about the coming of Christ (2 Sam 7:29), sang about the reign of Christ (Psa 110), and prophesied about the death of Christ (Psa 22). David trusted Christ. David was not a perfect man, but he trusted that his transgressions were forgiven, his sins were covered, and through Christ the LORD would not count his iniquities (Psa 32:1-2). This is the thing of first importance. For our lives to truly matter, we must trust Christ.
Serve God
We can only, like David, serve the purpose of God in our own generation. We can’t go backwards and be faithful in a previous time. We can’t go forward and be faithful in a future time. The only time we have to be faithful is right now. What is it that God has put before us right now? Serve God in it. What is the need of the hour? What would it look like, in this cultural moment, to faithfully serve God? What does it look like to faithfully serve God in your workplace, in your family, in your neighborhood? Don’t look around and wish you were in another generation or a different situation. Serve God right where you are.
Fall Asleep
And once we’ve served the purpose of God in our own generation, then we fall asleep. This is the end of it all. We die. We’ve trusted Christ, we’ve served Him faithfully, and then we die. This is the exclamation point to the sentence, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zech 4:6). Our frailty and finitude are powerful reminders that this is not about us. However faithfully we serve God, we will one day fall asleep. Only God gets the glory. Only God remains. And then there is a next generation of new people who will serve the purpose of God. We are not the point. All our labors point to the One who is worthy of our service and worship.
Brothers and sisters, trust Christ, serve God, and then fall asleep. That sleep will be like waking. And what a glorious waking that will be. “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness” (Psa 17:15). To fall asleep here is to wake in His likeness there. To behold His face in righteousness. It makes all the serving worth it. It turns death into rest. It takes the view off of ourselves and onto Him. May God help us to be faithful in this generation.
Jacob Crouch 2026
#Christ #Death #Service
